A community celebration in the Lawrence Park area featuring Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Skip Murphy Band and the Tony Perez Band. There will also be food vendors and misc. vendors including Harley Davidson. Come enjoy music and food while gazing at the car display.

The Monterey aquarium is one of the largest salt water and fresh water aquariums in the country located on the Famous Cannery Row in Monterey. Of course within a short drive are the beautiful artists colony of Carmel-By-The-Sea, Pebble Beach, 7 Mile Drive, the Monterey Bay itself and other beautiful California sites.

Sacramento is fortunate to have held on to quite a few original jukeboxes with their neon and all. I love these old jukeboxes and if you are young enough to have missed the great non-CD/DVD/MP3 music boxes, make sure to check them out.

Coloma is one of the original gold rush towns in California. in fact, gold was first discovered in Coloma. In 1848 John Marshall, who ran John Sutter’s mill in the settlement of Coloma, noticed something sparkling in the sluices in the American River. What sparkled turned out to be gold and sparked the biggest gold rush in history.

In 2011 the American River Music Festival will run from September 16th to 17th.

How do I get tickets and how much?

You can get tickets online here.

You can buy tickets by phone: 530-622-6044

You can buy tickets at the Main Stage of the event beginning at 10 am

Adult tickets are $35.00 per day plus a $2 fee. Youth(youth are 8-17) tickets are $15 per day plus the $2 fee. Under 8 years old are free.

Tickets for 2 days are $59 for adults and $20 for youth plus the $2 fee

There are lists here for what you can/cannot bring to the Main Stage concert area and into the campgrounds.

So tell me more about Coloma.

You know I am from Sacramento and that my family has been here since 1850. Actually one relative traveled to San Francisco by ship around the Horn and tip of South America, in 1847/48 and traveled inland to Sacramento. He returned to his home in Washington DC before gold was discovered….dammit!!

His relatives eventually made it back to California after the Civil War. So, we have been in this area for a bit.

The discovery of gold and the stories of James Marshall and John Sutter and the subsequent gold rush has been told in thousands of books and I could not even attempt to tell it here without boring most of you.

But, take my advice: when you go to the American River Music Festival take some time to visit Coloma and explore the area. Even try panning for some gold. They say the American River still holds four times as much gold as the 49ers removed from the riverbeds. People still find very big gold nuggets. hard work, definitely.

Sacramento was the western starting point as our nation worked to complete the transcontinental railway which ended with the golden spike connecting the eastern and western railway routes. The Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento houses not only trains but one of the original golden spikes!

The Sacramento River which is the cities connection to the San Francisco bay and beyond., running thru the Delta. Seen any movies about the Mississippi River or the Mississippi Delta?? Chances are it was actually Sacramento.

The American River where gold was first found and later the site of huge gold mining efforts. Still gold in them thar hills!!